Difficult traditions

Tomorrow is the United States holiday of Thanksgiving, one that is, to say the least, deeply problematic. Because it is, for many in my country, a time of family gathering, and where many businesses explicitly are closed, we are giving that time to our team, and my family will be gathering to eat and share time together, which I cherish.

However, despite, or perhaps because I cherish this time with family, we as a company are not celebrating the genocidal land-grab or perpetuating the myths related to Christopher Columbus and his men’s evil acts on this North American continent.

For all interested, I recommend An Indigenous People’s History of the United States, by historian Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz. (Not an affiliate link.)

I know that some have tried to reclaim this holiday by using it as a time for gratitude, and I am all for people expressing gratitude. It’s a deeply nourishing practice.

I also have a great deal of room in my heart for the grief that this day brings up, when we truly know the history.

Some thoughts:

If you live in the United States or Canada, you are almost certainly living on stolen land. Learn about the people whose land you are on.

You can also learn about the Indigenomics Institute, for an Indigenous approach to economics.

I am far, far from an expert in these resources. I just know that we who benefit from capitalism and from the wealth in what is now known as North America owe a debt that is both unrepayable and one that we must face if we’re ever going to live in peace. It has been shown that there is no way the U.S. could have existed as a country, or had the resources to expand westward to become what it is now without stolen land from First Nations, and without stolen labor from enslaved Africans and their descendants.

I don’t wish for anyone to be paralyzed by guilt, but without facing, grieving and showing up for what is needed to heal in concrete ways, we will never thrive as a people.

I don’t know about you, but I end up feeling lighter and more able to act with justice and love when I acknowledge what’s true, even if what I’m facing feels undoable. The path opens when we embrace what’s true.

The same is true in your business and in your heart, as well as social justice.

May we all walk a road that understands that justice and love, that compassion and truth, that strength and gentleness are One.

With love,

Mark Silver, M.Div.
Heart of Business, Inc.
Every act of business can be an act of love.